Topic: iPad

In what is certain to be one of the biggest blockbusters of the year, "Dawn of the Planet of the Apes" portrays two parallel societies grappling with fears, violence, betrayal and cross-cultural empathy, with a particularly poignant scene portraying a battered iPad (albeit running iOS 6).

With the September time frame expected to delivery a plethora of new and refreshed products from Apple, an increasing number of the company's current offerings are seeing sporadic but significant price cuts like todays: $300 discounts on both a 13- and 15-inch MacBook Pro, $90 off 32GB WiFi + AT&T iPad Airs, two iMacs for under $1000, and Apple TV for just $79.99.

With Google's I/O conference set to kick off this Wednesday and showcase the company's next direction for its Android mobile platform, a new leak now shows an 8.9-inch HTC tablet that is expected to be the next premium Nexus tablet pitted against Apple's iPad lineup.

References to a "Surface Mini" discovered in the user manual for Microsoft's latest tablet foray suggest that the software giant scrapped or delayed the long-rumored 8-inch variant -- which would have gone up against Apple's iPad mini -- at the last minute, opting to put all of their eggs in the larger basket.

"Star Wars" fanatics can relive their love of the original trilogy in an entirely new way on Apple's iPad thanks to the new "Star Wars Scene Maker" app from Disney, which allows users to re-imagine and re-create scenes from the films.

With publishing house Hachette locked in a battle with Amazon that has seen the imprint's titles pulled from Amazon's virtual shelves, Apple's iBookstore has become the next-best place for readers to shop as a number of Hachette e-books are now discounted to just $9.99.

Best Buy for the next few weeks is serving up coupons to students that knock $150 off Apple's MacBooks & iMacs, and $50 off iPad Airs and iPad minis -- effectively dropping the entry-level buy-in cost to owning a MacBook to $650 and an iPad (mini with Retina display) to $330. [Update: Best Buy has now cut WiFi iPad mini even further, yielding $300 16GB models with student coupons]

While Apple's next-generation full-sized iPad isn't expected to see a major redesign this year, a new set of dummy models claiming to show the look of 2014 iPad Air feature tweaked volume buttons with a new, recessed design, along with a Touch ID enabled home button.

Art-minded app and hardware developer FiftyThree on Tuesday announced it will be adding an iOS 8-exclusive feature to the "Paper" drawing app that lets users of the company's "Pencil" stylus change the characteristics of a drawn line by modifying how they hold the tool.

While Apple fans consider the iPad hardware itself to be a work of art, it's an app that was designed for the iPad in part by Icelandic singer Björk that has earned the distinction of becoming the first application of its kind accepted into the permanent collection at New York's Museum of Modern Art.

The kick-off of Apple's 2014 developer conference has lead to a number of Apple discounts from the company's partners, including $355 off a powerful 15" MacBook Pro Retina with AppleCare, refurbished Beats Solo HDs for $79.99, in addition to a number of discounted iPad and iMac models.

Apple on Wednesday added the flagship iPad Air and iPad mini with Retina display to the company's long-running education discount program, the first time Apple has included the tablets in its less costly options for students and teachers.

Worldwide sales of tablet computers declined by nearly 5 percent in the first quarter of 2014 -- the first such fall since tracking began -- but Apple's iPad maintained its dominant mobile PC position with nearly twice the market share of the closest competitor.

Apple and Japanese wireless carrier NTT DOCOMO on Wednesday announced the iPad Air and iPad mini with Retina display will finally hit the country's largest network next month, with preorders starting on June 2.

Apple on Sunday released two new spots for its "Your Verse" iPad campaign touting the tablet's music creation and travelogue capabilities with stories from composer Esa-Pekka Salonen and travel writer Cherie King.

Gulf Air, the Kingdom of Bahrain's flagship air carrier, announced last week the adoption of an iPad-based electronic flight bag program in cooperation with local telecommunications provider VIVA Bahrain.

Flash deals company Groupon on Monday unveiled Gnome, an iPad-based point-of-sale console with deep integration into Groupon's own infrastructure that the company hopes will spur uptake among merchants that regularly run promotions through the service.